Women on top in Israel

The appointment of Dr Karnit Flug adds to the remarkable number of women at the pinnacle of Israel’s banking system.

Last week, Lilach Asher-Topilsky was appointed Israel Discount Bank CEO.

This means that, along with Bank Leumi CEO Rakefet Russak-Aminoach and First International Bank CEO Smadar Barber-Tsadik, three of Israel’s top five banks are headed by women, while Bank Hapoalim’s controlling shareholder is Shari Arison.

Even so, women have a long way to go to achieve corporate equality in Israel.

According to the NGO Israel WE Power, only 4 per cent of the country’s CEOs are women, while 17 per cent of senior managers and directors at publicly traded companies are women.

However, this figure is higher than the 14 per cent in the US and only 6 per cent in the UK.